Memories of Velidhu

I saw an advert for Velidhu island and I can't stop thinking about it. I have been there, it is in the Maldives and it was one of the most beautiful places where I have ever been, an Indian Ocean paradise. It's where I learnt how to scuba dive and it was the inspiration for one of our songs, Bodiless and Free. I would snorkel for ages, there was a huge coral reef around the island, and I would just be transfixed by all the colourful fishes and the abundance of them. It makes me sad to think of how the coral gets bleached by global warming, if only more people could realise what is being destroyed. Anyway, I stayed on that little island for two weeks and got to know it really well, actually it is so tiny you can walk round the whole thing in about an hour. I used to get up very early every morning, before the Germans got up to claim their sun loungers, and I got to know some creatures very well. There were 3 little reef sharks that used to swim in a small bay at the same time every morning and the stingrays were quite habitual as well, I learnt how to recognise different ones. I remember when the Tsunami struck, I always wondered what had happened to Velidhu, so I was pleased to see that it hadn't been affected. Do you know, I would really love to go back there and I mean it, not just saying it, I will escape there in my mind all day.